Back to EveryPatent.com
United States Patent | 5,181,696 |
Abe | January 26, 1993 |
A vehicle height adjusting device for attachment to a vehicle hydraulic shock absorber having a pump chamber used for delivering the fluid under pressure by the compression and extension strokes of the shock absorber. The device includes a hydraulic jack unit arranged in series with a suspension spring and a change-over valve for selectively adjusting vehicle height to a up position or a down position. The pump chamber, jack unit and reservoir are connected through the change-over valve by the delivery line for delivering hydraulic fluid from the pump chamber to the jack unit in the up position set by the change-over valve, a line for returning hydraulic fluid from the jack unit to the reservoir in the down position of vehicle height, and a line for by-passing hydraulic fluid from the pump chamber. The device has a supply line which branches from the delivery line upstream to the change-over valve and communicates with the reservoir, a first check valve arranged in the supply line in the direction of preventing the flow of fluid from the pump chamber to the reservoir, a second check valve provided in the delivery line downstream to a branch point of the supply line in the direction of preventing the flow of fluid from the jack unit to the pump chamber, a relief line provided between the second check valve and the branch point of the supply line and communicating with the reservoir, and a relief valve provided in the relief line.
Inventors: | Abe; Shigenobu (Hamamatsu, JP) |
Assignee: | Kabushiki Kaisha Showa Seisakusho (Tokyo, JP) |
Appl. No.: | 568508 |
Filed: | August 16, 1990 |
Aug 23, 1989[JP] | 1-214820 |
Current U.S. Class: | 267/64.17; 267/221; 280/6.15; 280/276 |
Intern'l Class: | B60G 015/12; B62K 025/04; F16F 009/06; F16F 009/50 |
Field of Search: | 267/64.17,64.16,64.15,64.18,64.19,64.21,186,187,221,217 188/299,318,317,298 280/710,714,708,709,276,724,670,284,43.18 180/219 |
3497199 | Feb., 1970 | Tuczek | 267/64. |
3865135 | Feb., 1975 | McWilliams et al. | 267/64. |
4170279 | Oct., 1979 | Pelletier | 267/64. |
4325567 | Apr., 1982 | Hendrickson | 267/64. |
4577840 | Mar., 1986 | Meller et al. | 267/64. |
4877223 | Oct., 1989 | Hackett | 267/64. |
4993693 | Feb., 1991 | Lohr et al. | 267/64. |
5009451 | Apr., 1991 | Hayashi et al. | 267/221. |
5022501 | Jun., 1991 | Hayashi et al. | 267/64. |
5062616 | Nov., 1991 | Sommer | 267/64. |
5098120 | Mar., 1992 | Hayashi et al. | 267/217. |